Oct 21, 2006

Maia Louise is a very unusual little cat who packs quite a wallop in a very small package. She's always up to something. Now don't get me wrong, I like having a cat with a personality disorder or two, I wouldn't want nor expect anything less from my cat. That's why I chose her and not any of her litter mates. It was obvious from day one that this little ball of fur would be a force to be reckoned with and we haven't been disappointed. Take for example her penchant for slipping into various places that a cat should never be, without your seeing her slipping into said place. One of her favorite things to do is to hop into the refrigerator after you've turned your back to it, just before the door snicks shut. After misplacing the cat more times than I can count only to find her tucked into a shelf in the fridge having a good look around and the occasional nosh, we've all learned to always make a quick scan in there before closing the door.

One of the first times that Maia Louise went missing was on one very hectic school morning when she was still a new family member by just a few weeks, a busy morning that left little room for error. As an indoor cat, there are only so many places that she can sneak off to and not eventually be found, but on this particular day she was giving us fits. I was afraid she had squeezed out the kitchen door when the dog was let out, and I wasn't about to head off for the day without knowing she was inside and safe. We looked everywhere, or at least what I thought was everywhere, and with a heavy heart told my son to go and grab his lunch from the refrigerator because we needed to leave. When he opened the door to the fridge, out popped little Maia Louise with a package of ham in her mouth which she had already partially eaten. We both made a grab for her, but off she went with the ham, which was substantially bigger than she, and gleefully made off with her prize. She was chased upstairs where she was finally cornered under a bed and made to relinquish her booty after a much prolonged wrestling match.

This was just the beginning of a lifetime of quick snatch and grabs on her part, all of which send us scuttling to retrieve whatever it is that has tickled her fancy at that moment, as well as what seems like years of our lives spent searching for her when she's gone missing for hours on end only to find her shut in a closet, closed in a dresser drawer, stuck in the narrow space between the storm door and the inner front door, peeking out of the glass doors from within the china cabinet, and of course, snacking happily in the refrigerator, to name but a few. And she's never fazed in the least, she just patiently bides her time until someone comes along and frees her from wherever she's gotten herself stuck. Until the next time...

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Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.

-Anatole France

The indifference, callousness and contempt that so many people exhibit toward animals is evil first because it results in great suffering in animals, and second because it results in an incalculably great impoverishment of the human spirit.